The first time I went to Thailand, I was 4 years old.
It was 1995 then, and apart from the snippets I have of bright temples, golden shrines and smelly elephants, what I remember the most is the tuk tuk, Thailand’s version of the Philippine tricycle.
Vacationing in Bangkok back then, I vividly remember comparing the two. “Wow, parang tricycle lang— pero mas malaki,” I thought to myself.
The next time I chanced upon Bangkok again was a month ago, when I attended the 2nd Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Media Forum. It was everything unlike my 1995 trip, and not only because I was visiting for business this time around.
When I was four, it was only the tuk tuk that towered over anything Philippine-made. Back then, Bangkok was like Manila—polluted, a bit pungent, chaotic and spilling with beautiful women.
Today, Bangkok is posing itself to be a less stringent version of Singapore. The Suvarnabhumi Airport terminal alone (excluding runways) is half the size of the Ateneo campus, and puts the “new” and overeager T3 to shame. Bangkok cabs are so well-air conditioned and well-upholstered, you don’t feel like you bathed in sticky sweat when you alight. Plus, Thai cab drivers are so used to tourists, they actually provide receipts.
Like Pacquiao to every blundering Mexican boxer he’s faced, Bangkok is winning over Manila in every round this 21st century. On infrastructure, tourism and governance, Thailand is raking in what was all ours decades ago.
It hurts, we say, because 50 years ago the Philippines was an Asian giant. The second most powerful economy in the region belonged to us then, and we had Thailand and Singapore mimicking the way we did things—not the other way around. Fifty years ago, the Philippine peso was 2:1 strong to the Dollar, and the Araneta Coliseum was one of the biggest domes in the world. Back then, Manila was a capital gem.
But fifty years ago is not today. While we’re debating on poorly done tourism catchphrases or if Shalani makes for a better host than a smiling mannequin, our neighbors are busying themselves with improvement after improvement, leaving behind the Manila they once looked up to. Today, the Philippines sits on the bottom half of ASEAN countries, with Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Burma for company. It is significant to note that two of these countries are communist states; one is still a constitutional monarchy, and the other is under a military dictatorship.
In the race to economic stability and progression, the Philippines is losing badly. Manila, held up once as one of the most beautiful cities in the world, is disintegrating with has-been infrastructure, resources and systems. Its citizens take pride in the Manila of the 60s, but refuse to take collective action in the pitiful Manila of today, instead desecrating her by shamelessly littering, spitting and wasting on any filthy, available corner.
Once glorious, Manila has lost its luster.
